


A Performance of Reminiscence

by empty_movement



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: F/F, Non-Explicit Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:02:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21890878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empty_movement/pseuds/empty_movement
Summary: Mrs.Ohtori meets her match at the Graduation Ball: a mirror, held up Kozue. Written by Giovanna for Secret Santa 2013.
Kudos: 4





	A Performance of Reminiscence

Mrs.Ohtori carried herself in a manner that was matronly, if not motherly. The dignified, even haughty airs she put on were all but a requirement attached to the Ohtori name, and she made sure there were enough gala events in the calendar year to keep her face prominent in the minds of the executive staff and major contributors. Though she held no official position in the school, she was nevertheless a caretaker of it. If she had less savory motives for keeping herself entangled with the administrative body of Ohtori Academy, only one man knew it. And her dedication merely amused him.  
The Graduation Ball was a conflagration of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and even previous alumni of note. While all graduating students were invited, the rest of the invitations were left up to people who were considered important enough to have a say. Mrs.Ohtori was one of them. No one questioned her selection; after all, the Kaoru family was wealthy, with a talented son on the student council. If the daughter had done nothing interesting, or at least nothing interesting that could be publicly acknowledged, the invitation was nevertheless unquestioned. It was thought to be the polite thing to do.

Mrs.Ohtori weaved through the crowd and the canapes, past obligatory handshakes and attempts to curry favor. Her target was far away, on the edges of the crowd. She stood alone, and appeared content with her solitude.  
“Kozue, is it? I’m pleased to meet you. You may not know me, but I’m good friends with your father.”  
“A lot of people are,” the girl smiled. She held a flute of something bubbly, as did many of the students in attendance. Though there was sparkling lemonade and other such legal offerings, no one seemed concerned with the contents of the glasses or the age of those carrying them. “It’s harder to book my brother for events otherwise.” _Venom._ Mrs.Ohtori laughed, unshaken.  
“I would imagine it is. But I knew your father long ago, when we were both students, long before you, or your brother, were born. My name’s Ohtori Naoko.” She waited for the pause, followed by the requisite prostrating characteristic of students when they met someone bearing the school’s name. Instead, Kozue’s eyes widened slightly, an unconscious glance toward the tall, dark man occupying the center of the room.  
“I didn’t know Mr.Ohtori was married,” she said smoothly, as though the effort at sounding genuinely surprised wasn’t worth it to her.  
“Oh, _him?_ Akio’s engaged to my daughter. We haven’t begrudged him preemptive use of the name, as he’s proven a capable chairman in my husband’s absence.” She tried to sound amused, like the thought the girl had made a flattering error.  
Kozue shrugged. “It’s an easy mistake to make, Mrs.Ohtori. If I were you, I wouldn’t correct people when they make it.”  
“Akio’s half my age.” Mrs.Ohtori registered the flicker of knowing satisfaction in the girl’s eyes. “And twice yours. And engaged to my daughter, besides.” _Why did this last bit always feel so tacked on?_  
“I hear he’s popular with the older girls. Kanae’s very lucky.” The girl twisted her daughter's name in her mouth, wringing the joy and light from it and reducing it to a minor obstacle. One she’d obviously overcome. But Mrs.Ohtori couldn’t find the bile in her for true hatred. This girl, with hair a deep blue that hers had been, reminded her too much of herself. Hadn’t she been as much a predator once?  
Despite her contemplations, Mrs.Ohtori laughed. It rang hollow in her ears. “I’m sure she thinks so. But what about you, my dear? What makes you lucky or unlucky?”  
“Why do you care?”  
Mrs.Ohtori did her best to exude the knowing mother, instead of jealous lover or aging beauty. “I was your age once. With an important name and no one watching over me.”  
“Oh.” Something switched in the girl’s expression. The brief defensive wariness fading quickly into a sedated amusement. _How have I suddenly ceased to be a threat?_  
“You have a long life ahead of you to live with the mistakes you can make in your youth. I am only voicing my concerns, I won’t interfere should you disregard them.”  
“Well, in that case, voice away.” Kozue’s flippancy failed to conceal a hint of curiosity.  
“You’ve built for yourself a reputation in the school. There’s nothing wrong with youthful exuberance, but there’s been some concern brought up that you’re...” _the pause, then the dignified affront as discussing such a topic..._ “Taking up interests that would not be seen in so forgiving a light later.”  
Kozue sipped her drink. The faint flush a couple glasses of champagne bestows coloring her face.  
“Shouldn’t it be Kanae coming to me about this?”  
“Kanae doesn’t know you’re sleeping with Akio.”  
“I bet what your daughter doesn’t know could fill textbooks.”  
“...excuse me?”  
A wicked grin. A glass set aside.  
“I’ll sleep with whoever I want. You’re _not my mother, and_ my mother doesn’t care.”  
“Maybe yours doesn’t, but I do. Kanae-”  
“Doesn’t know about you two, either. How about we both agree to keep it that way?”  
Mrs.Ohtori was struck dumb. Of course the girl knew. She must have seen her watching from the balcony, smirking at the streak of blue hair contrasted against the white leather of Akio’s car.  
“Dear, I’m only trying to help. It’s a hard future when the mistakes you make are the kind people remember.”  
“I’m sure it is. But you’re not here for my sake, so stop acting like it. You want me to leave your lover alone.”  
“My daughter’s fiance.”  
Kozue smiled, a quick, contemplative biting of her lip concealed in the gesture. She turned, not to walk away, but to go where this woman would follow. _And she followed._  
“If you say so.”  
“I do, and either case, you should leave the man alone.”  
“I sleep with Akio because boys my age are boring. I think you’re having the same problem, aren’t you?”  
Mrs.Ohtori had no canned response for that. She laughed, but it was unamused, bitter laughter. “Don’t be ridiculous. I love my husband.”  
“I wasn’t talking about love.”  
“Then what were you talking about?”  
A predatory gleam showed in Kozue’s eyes. An expression older than her body. The expression of a conqueror. She recognized that look; she’d had it once, when she was Kozue’s age. A fearless ambition ignorant still to defeat. She envied the simplicity of the world as it’d been then. Seduce the powerful, be powerful. It’s that easy when you’re a teenager. The girl hadn’t answered, instead Kozue led her out the central hall, into one of the auxiliary rooms piled high with cases of champagne and stacked extra seating. She’d followed.  
“You’re right. I take a lot of risks. But I always make sure to have insurance.”  
Mrs.Ohtori glanced around the dimly lit room. Why had the girl taken her here? In the dark light, she looked even more familiar. Beautiful and bold and eager to discover the power her body could wield. She heard herself ask what the girl meant, but her words came out at a distance, her mind preoccupied with memory. Had she ever whisked some administrator into this room?  
“I always make sure the people who could get me in the most trouble have a good reason not to try.” In the quiet of the room, the sound of a zipper.  
“And how do you do that?” Mrs.Ohtori’s voice was a whisper. In the dark, Kozue seemed less an adversary, less a pest, and more...a mirror. A memory of the girl that had hunted once, before she’d been captured.  
“There are people that would forgive you for fucking your daughter’s fiance, but hate you for taking a woman for a lover.”  
The light spilling in from a nearby window framed the smooth lines of the girl’s silhouette as the shoulders of her dress slid down. Her arms lifted away and the dress hung helplessly to the youthful, unfinished curves of her hips.  
“You’re not a woman. You’re a girl.” She couldn’t hear her own voice, she only knew she spoke by the fact that it elicited a response from the figure before her.  
“All the worse for you. But you’re no stranger to taboo. If I were to guess, I’d say you’re drawn to it.”  
_The girl._ If she kept thinking that, would it help? _The girl’s_ hands slid over her hips, pooling the dress on the floor. Panties, bra, and bare skin were all the light had to cling to now. She found her wiser reactions fading fast, her own feet betraying her as they advanced, until _the girl’s_ wicked grin was framed in the delicate stroking of Mrs.Ohtori’s hand.  
“You think you’re clever. You think you know everything. You think sex is how you’ll rule the world.”  
Kozue’s hands came up to rest on Mrs.Ohtori’s hips. The grin became lopsided, dripping with amusement.  
“Remind you someone you know?”  
Yes. Her fingers slid into Kozue’s hair, flattening the unruly short threads, running them through her fingers and down, until they framed her face. Another step forward, her hands moving as though in a trance. When it was done, and the girl’s deep blue hair fell around her face in short curves that settled along her cheeks, Mrs.Ohtori stopped being able to recall who the girl was, or why she had hated her so, or even why she’d let herself be led to this dark, isolated room. She only saw herself, bold and confident, beautiful and undefeated. She remembered how that tasted, sweet, and full of promise. She leaned down, and found it to be just as lovely a taste as it had been when it’d belonged to her.  
_Yes. You do remind me of someone._


End file.
